Keikis growing from flower stem - what do I do? - Orchid Board

JenelleJeanoel · #1 07-06-2019, 01:36 PM

Hello! I'm brand new to this board, so I'll introduce myself -- my name is Leah, and I'm a fairly new orchid owner. My phalaenopsis orchid is on its second cycle of blooming since I got it. I am in a basement apartment, so my window doesn't get any light, and it was starting to die, so I got a plant lamp. After a few weeks of using it, the orchid started to perk up and the leaves stopped drooping. I'm at two months of using the lamp and now my orchid has developed five keikis, four on the base of the new flower bloom and one at the root of the plant by the leaves (photo below). I did some research and found that keikis are baby orchids that will grow roots and leaves of their own, and that many orchid growers love keikis and even want them. They grow from stress on the plant, but not always -- there are lots of reasons. Is that information correct? I don't really know what to do about my orchid. Should I remove the keikis or let them grow? Is their location damaging? What is causing them and how do you suggest I change that, if I should? Thank you so much for your help!

Ray · #2 07-06-2019, 04:16 PM

Some species are naturally "keiki factories", while,for others it can be a sign of stressful conditions.

Once they get about 4" of total root length (that one looks to qualify), just snap it off the spike and pot it up.

OrcishOrchids · #3 07-06-2019, 11:38 PM

How is the mother plant doing?

IngieBee · #4 07-07-2019, 06:29 AM

Don't snap it off yet if that's a flower spike growing off it???!!!

Swimmingorchids · #5 07-07-2019, 10:58 AM

hi leah,
I'm just starting out myself but have had plenty of time to do research so hope I can help a little.
I am glad you found a good grow light - from what you describe it is doing its job as it should be. First time I used a grow light I burned my plant. They are not as hardy as my tomatoes...
Like you say other people would love to get some keikis - me included lol.

As to the plant being stressed - possibly. I am looking at the purpling under the keiki leaf as the most likely indicator. It could be a sign of too much light but it could possibly be from too low temps. Do you know what the night time temp drops to? Can you get a max min thermometer to keep an eye on it? They like 22C during the day and 18C at night and should not go below 16C.

If temps are fine, try moving your light a little bit further away from the plant. The purpling is not as bad as the full on sunburn I created but it might be an early indicator either light is too intense or temp too low.

Either way it sounds like it is doing much better than it was and hope it does ok.

JenelleJeanoel · #6 07-07-2019, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray

Some species are naturally "keiki factories", while,for others it can be a sign of stressful conditions.

Once they get about 4" of total root length (that one looks to qualify), just snap it off the spike and pot it up.

Ooh, thank you Ray! Did not know that. Good to know I can repot it now instead of later!

---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:58 AM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swimmingorchids

hi leah,
I'm just starting out myself but have had plenty of time to do research so hope I can help a little.
I am glad you found a good grow light - from what you describe it is doing its job as it should be. First time I used a grow light I burned my plant. They are not as hardy as my tomatoes...
Like you say other people would love to get some keikis - me included lol.

As to the plant being stressed - possibly. I am looking at the purpling under the keiki leaf as the most likely indicator. It could be a sign of too much light but it could possibly be from too low temps. Do you know what the night time temp drops to? Can you get a max min thermometer to keep an eye on it? They like 22C during the day and 18C at night and should not go below 16C.

If temps are fine, try moving your light a little bit further away from the plant. The purpling is not as bad as the full on sunburn I created but it might be an early indicator either light is too intense or temp too low.

Either way it sounds like it is doing much better than it was and hope it does ok.

Thank you! I'm not sure what the temperature is, but the room thermostat ranges from 65 to 70 degrees F. I think the purpling you're referring to is on the flower bloom? The keikis don't have leaves as far as I can tell; the leaves at the bottom of the picture are from the mother plant.

OrchidBro · #7 07-07-2019, 02:01 PM

The leaves at the TOP of the picture belong to the keiki, as well as those 4 little roots coming out of it. The "purpling" could also be natural and judging from the picture should be nothing to worry about. Lots of orchid leaves can have a slight purple tinge on them, especially as they grow from tiny leaves to big, mature leaves. Higher light levels tend to intensify this "purpling" affect. IMO, nothing to worry about with the purple underside of the keiki leaf (I personally look for orchids with "purpling" in the leaves as I like the color contrast).

JenelleJeanoel · #8 07-07-2019, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrchidBro

The leaves at the TOP of the picture belong to the keiki, as well as those 4 little roots coming out of it. The "purpling" could also be natural and judging from the picture should be nothing to worry about. Lots of orchid leaves can have a slight purple tinge on them, especially as they grow from tiny leaves to big, mature leaves. Higher light levels tend to intensify this "purpling" affect. IMO, nothing to worry about with the purple underside of the keiki leaf (I personally look for orchids with "purpling" in the leaves as I like the color contrast).

Ooh really? I thought that those small leaves were a flower bloom. The leaves/flower bloom came first out of the stake and then those other things appeared, which I thought were the keiki. Are those things jutting out actually roots? I'm confused haha.

OrchidBro · #9 07-07-2019, 04:44 PM

No, those small leaves AND the roots are the keiki. That "stake" they came out of is the flower spike of the mother plant. I edited your photo a little bit but the leaves are circled in red and the roots are circled in blue.

Swimmingorchids · #10 07-07-2019, 07:03 PM

ah we both got a bit confused it seems. I thought there were other keiki's that we couldn't see on the picture. So you have 1 keiki I take it. This keiki is producing leaves and I gather 5 roots. The leaves on the mother plant look nice and green. The keiki looks a bit purple which is to be expected if your lamp is positioned directly above your plant. The keiki will be a lot closer to the light and receive far more light. So if you can move the light to the side of your plant so it is a bit closer to the mother plant and a bit further away from the keiki.

edit: or just move the light further away. Artificial light is not like sunlight where everything gets an equal amount. With artificial light the further away from the light the more it diminishes. With small lamps, centimeters can make big changes in light intensity